Erin Abernethy

Masters Student
Rhodes Lab

Erin joined the Savannah River Ecology Lab in January 2013 as a Master’s student with Dr. Gene Rhodes through the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. Erin grew up in Aiken, SC, and is currently attending classes in Athens, Ga. She will be studying the scavenging ecology of invasive species in Hawai’i, as well as doing field and lab work at SREL. Before joining SREL, Erin lived in North Carolina earning her BS in Biology at Appalachian State University. For her degree, she investigated whether freshwater mussel populations showed evidence of fragmentation around small mill dams. She was then hired by Clemson University to look at the habitat choices of spotted turtles, Clemmys guttata, in highly managed loblolly pine forests in eastern NC. There she also learned how to garden and bake delicious grape hull pies from her Great Aunt Marie.